Fort Campbell, KY – Soldiers from Bravo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) conducted an air assault battery gun raid live fire exercise as part of Operation Lethal Eagle III, a division-wide field training exercise, on August 9th, 2023, at Fort Campbell, KY.
Bravo Battery assembled their four M119 Howitzer cannons at the designated pickup zone in Fort Campbell’s training area. They hooked up their Howitzers to CH-47 Chinook helicopters, piloted and crewed by Soldiers from 6th Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), using sling loads.
Upon arrival at the landing zone, Bravo Battery unhooked their Howitzers and conducted the attack on the designated target, an enemy radar tower. After destroying the target they then withdrew back to the original pickup zone.
“It’s going to be quick,” said 1st Sgt. William Daniels, first sergeant of Bravo Battery. “From the time they pick us up, to the time they drop us off there, we fire our fire mission, they pick us back up and get us back here is one hour or less.”
The purpose of air assault missions like this one is rapid deployment of forces. As part of the Army’s only air assault division, 3-320th trains to be proficient at these missions so they can be ready to employ fires when they are needed and to avoid the normal issues that many artillery units face when transporting their cannons.
“It gets the battery in and out of positions that we can fire from rapidly,” Daniels said when asked about the importance of training for this kind of mission. “We don’t have to worry about getting stuck in the mud if we’re driving, or any type of mechanical failure in a vehicle. The aircraft can get us quickly where we need to go and pick us right back up when we need to get out of there.”
